Invisible Lights
by headmaster lion who can talk
Summary: Marley hates when people look at her or pay attention to her, so her counselor has her join theater, where everyone will look at you. Set in the world of Little White Lie. Rated T because I do't know where this is going. Jim PovoloxOC
1. Episode 1

"You can't go on like this Marley," A professional looking woman said to the very uncomfortable looking girl sitting in a chair on the other side of her desk. "People will eventually pay attention to you for some reason or another." At this the girl looked up at the woman in terror. "You were been able to slide by through homeschooling through high school, but you don't have that option for college. You've been there for two months and your professors have given me reports of you sitting in the back of class, avoiding eye contact with everyone, and actually leaving class if you were called on and people turned to look at you. They've been tolerant thus far, but this has to end."

The girl looked back down at the ground. "I know," she said in a very faint voice.

"I've looked into some programs at your school and there are going to be open auditions for the drama department's upcoming show, and I want you to try out. The girl looked terrified by the prospect of being in a play. "It' a way to ease you into the idea of people focussing on you. It'll be good for you."

An alarm went off on the girl's watch, and she got up to go.

"Bye Marley," the woman said, "and I'll know if you don't audition.

Marley Perry was nineteen years old. She was attending Central Michigan University in central Michigan. She dressed as generically as possible, and wore the same charmless necklace every day. She had mousy brown curls and a slight sense of fear in her eyes. Most importantly, she had social anxiety. She hated for people to talk to her too much or ask her questions, and she especially hated when they stared at her. The idea of doing theater sounded awful, but she had to do it.

Marley walked to campus and wandered about until she saw a sign about auditions. She saw that there was a mandatory meeting for all those auditioning. The only problem was that the meeting was right now.

About fifteen kids sat around the room in chairs, on desks, one even on the floor, pretty much anywhere. At the front of the room stood a mid forties looking professor with chalk on his hand writing on the blackboard and reading off his words as he wrote them. "Much...Ado...About...Nothing." Many of the students cheered, a few others shouted out such things as "Oh, come on, really?"

"All right, calm down," the professor said. "The decision is made and final. You're all mature enough to deal with it, I'm sure. Now, this is Zach," as he said this, a skinny boy in a fedora stood up with a pile of packets. "He's going to be my assistant. What he's giving out is the audition packets. It's got character breakdowns in the front and the audition packet in the back. Make sure to fill those out and-"

Just then Marley opened the door. She was met by stares from anyone. She looked terrified, and let out a faint and frightened moan.

You must be Marley, I was told you'd be coming. Come on in-wait, where are you going?" Marley had run back down the hallway. "Someone go bring her back, she's required to audition. Jim, could you please get her?" A tall boy with dark hair and full sideburns stood from off of the ground and left without a word.

"Why's she 'required'?" one boy asked.

"It's probably none of our business, Evan," a girl responded.

Out in the hall, Jim was quickly gaining on Marley's lengthened strides with his naturally long ones. Neither was running, but they were both moving with purpose.

"Wait," Jim said in a deep, slow voice, "stop."

Marley kept walking, but Jim caught up to her and put his hand on her shoulder to stop her and turn her to face him. She stiffened at the contact, but he didn't remove his hand for fear that she would run.

"Are you okay?" He asked her. She seemed surprised by the question.

"Y-yes..." she responded quietly, "no..."

"It's okay to be afraid."

"Not really, not this much."

"I have to bring you back now." After saying this, Jim took the fairly small girl in his arms. She was only about 5'4", and his tall, strong stature made it easy for him to pick her up. He carried her bridal style back down the long hallway. Marley wrapped her arms around his neck for support; This is higher than she usually is off the ground and she didn't want to fall. She immediatly realized that people would stare at them upon their return to the room, and she buried her face in Jim's chest in an attempt to hide.

"It's all right," Jim said, "I won't drop you."

"They'll stare at me," Marley said, speaking a little louder than she usually did because she knew her voice would be muffled.

"They've seen weirder," He reassured her.

When the two returned to the room the other students glanced at Jim and Marley. Most of them just smiled or laughed at the odd sight of Jim carrying this short girl. Jim sat down with her still in his arms before sliding her so she was next to him on the floor. He kept his arm around her to prevent her from running again, but she didn't mind because it meant she could keep her face hidden in his side.

"All right, now that everyone's here I'll continue. Tomorrow you'll all come in and turn in your audition forms then read a monologue I'll provide you with. Simple as that. The cast list will be posted the day after, excepting any roles with callbacks. That's about it. You're all free to go, and I'll see you tomorrow."

The professor walked to his desk at the back of the room as all of the students got up to leave until just Jm and Marley were left.

"They're all gone," Jim said, "You can come out now." Marley sat up straight and stared at the hands she had folded in her lap.

"Thank you." she said, in her quiet voice.

"Anytime," Jim said, removing his arm from around her and standing up. He extended his hand down to her to help her up. When they were both standing, they exited the room together. They weren't aware that the professor had been watching them.

They both started walking without the intention of walking together, but they arrived at their destination and realized that they had both been going to the same place: the library. Marley went and sat down at her usual table in the back corner, hidden away by all of the book shelves.

Jim had spent almost ten minutes browsing for a new book before he found one near the back corner. He walked over to that table Marley was sitting at alone.

"May I sit?" He asked her. She jumped at the sound of someone's voice, particularly as deep a voice as Jim's.

"Umm...well, I-uh," Marley didn't really know what to say.

Jim looked disappointed. "That's all right, I'll just find somewhere else then."

"No,wait," He just barely heard her, "you can stay."

Jim turned and smiled at her. He sat down and extended his hand to shake. "I'm Jim, by the way, Jim Povolo."

She shyly took his hand. "I'm Marley."

Marley's hands were cold and soft, and felt very delicate in Jim's strong ones. The two of them got to reading in silence. Jim didn't try to make small talk with Marley, or look up at her every once in a while; He just read, and so did she. For the first time since she'd been to college, Marley was happy. She felt comfortable around Jim.

"Well," she thought to herself, "If I really have to do this theater thing, at least there's one person I'm not afraid of."


	2. Episode 2

The next day Jim and Marley are sitting together in the library again. As they read, an alarm on Marley's watch goes off. Marley looked disappointed.

"Well," Jim said, "I guess it's time to get you to your first audition."

In the audition room, The professor sits at a table with Zach who put another audition form on top of a pile.

"Send in the next one," the professor instructed Zach. Zach got up and walked to the door at the other side of the room.

"The next person can come in now." He sat back down and waited for someone to come in. The door opened, and there was a moment of hesitation as Zach craned his neck to try and see who was trying to come in. It was Jim. He was trying to pull Marley in behind him, but she was struggling. He managed to get her in and she sat down, realizing he wouldn't allow her to escape.

"Uh, sorry guys, only one at a time, one of you has to go," Zach said. Neither Jim nor Marley made a move to leave.

"Seriously guys, go-"

"It's all right Zach, let them stay," the professor said before winking at Marley. Jim turned to look at her and the two smiled at each other.

"All right..." Zach said reluctantly. "Your audition forms?" Jim handed Zach the two pieces of paper.

"Going for Claudio, Jim?" The professor said, looking over his sheet, "Go on and start."

Jim pulled out the monologue in his back pocket and began to read.

"Thus answer I in the name of Benedick,

But hear these ill news with the ears of Claudio.

'Tis certain so; the prince wooes for himself.

Friendship is constant in all other things

Save in the office and affairs of love:

Therefore, all hearts in love use their own tongues;

Let every eye negotiate for itself

And trust no agent; for beauty is a witch

Against whose charms faith melteth into blood.

This is an accident of hourly proof,

Which I mistrusted not. Farewell, therefore, Hero!"

Marley watched Jim intently the whole time. He was rather good. And he wanted to be Claudio, who, as Marley understood from the character breakdowns, was in love with Hero.

"Very nice Jim, it's good to have you back again this year," the professor said as Jim took the seat next to Marley. "You're up next sweety."

Marley suddenly froze out of nerves. Her eyes went wide, and she couldn't bring herself to get up and read. Jim must have understood because he helped her stand , and walked with her to the center of the room where he stayed with her.

"Thank you Jim," The professor said as Zach rolled his eyes. "Going for Hero? I figured you might have wanted to start with something smaller, given your situation."

Marley shrugged. She liked the character.

"Well, that's perfectly all right. You go on and read up what you brought."

Jim handed Marley another piece of paper like the one he had read from. She opened it up and hesitated for a moment before beginning to read.

" Why, you speak truth. I never yet saw man,

How wise, how noble, young, how rarely featured,

But she would spell him backward: if fair-faced,

She would swear the gentleman should be her sister;

If black, why, Nature, drawing of an antique,

Made a foul blot; if tall, a lance ill-headed;

If low, an agate very vilely cut;

If speaking, why, a vane blown with all winds;

If silent, why, a block moved with none.

So turns she every man the wrong side out

And never gives to truth and virtue that

Which simpleness and merit purchaseth.

No, not to be so odd and from all fashions

As Beatrice is, cannot be commendable:

But who dare tell her so? If I should speak,

She would mock me into air; O, she would laugh me

Out of myself, press me to death with wit.

Therefore let Benedick, like cover'd fire,

Consume away in sighs, waste inwardly:

It were a better death than die with mocks,

Which is as bad as die with tickling."

"She speaks," Zach said. The three men were in slight shock about how well Marley read the monologue. She didn't stammer, or stutter, or hesitate, but instead spoke loudly and clearly.

"That was very impressive, Miss Perry. That's all I'll need you two for, check back tomorrow for the cast list."

Marley and Jim left in silence and went back to the library.

"All right so, Jim as Claudio, he was really good," Zach said as he was writing out a cast list.

"I think out of all the Claudio's we had, Jim best understood the monologue he read," The professor said. "And he proved last year that he works well with direction, which is always good."

"So we're going with Jim then?" Zach asked.

"Yeah, go with Jim. He also doesn't scare Marley, so that's one less obstacle to get over there."

"Sir?"

"I want her as Hero."

"Wh-are you serious?"

"Very."

"The girl's a freak. people looked at her yesterday and she flipped, Jim had to carry her back then she hid in his arms. You saw today, Jim had to forcibly pull her in here."

"Exactly. Jim is the key, she can work with Jim. You heard her monologue, she would be perfect for the role. If we wanted anyone other than Jim to be Claudio I'm not sure we could pull this off, but with the two of them we could really have something great."

"You're the director I guess."

Jim pulled Marley behind him as they approach the classroom where auditions had been. She didn't necessarily object to going, she was just nervous. That, and Jim was walking very fast. the arrived in the crowded hallway, and Marley froze. Jim felt her stop and turned to look at her. He smiled a little and took a step back so he was by her side. He put his arms around her and helped her to the front of the crowd. They got to the list and read down until they saw their names. When they saw that they had both been casted as who they wanted they both started to grow mile wide smiles. Jim helped guide Marley back out of the crowd and Marley did something she'd never done before: she hugged someone. She wrapped her arms around Jim and leaned her face against his chest. Jim was taken aback, but not unwilling to accept the hug. He bent down so Marley could wrap her arms around his neck, and he wrapped his own arms around her waist. Jim hadn't realized just how skinny she was until now, when he was pretty much enveloping her in his arms. He stood up straight, lifting Marley into the air, which she was surprisingly all right with. He put her down and the two smiled at each other for another moment before going off to get some food.

As the two sat together in the dining hall, Marley thought about everything that had happened in the past few days, and especially about Jim. Nothing romantic or anything, just about how she was okay with him lifting her like that, and how she didn't care if other people looked because she was excited for her role. It was strange; there were many people afraid of Jim, but to the girl who was afraid of everyone he was the only safe person.


	3. Episode 3

After the cast list hubbub, Marley realized what having a role would mean. She hadn't really known it was a lead role, or anything about the show really. She hadn't read the character breakdowns. She put down hero as the character she wanted because that was ho said the first female monologue that she had found from the show. When she and Jim were through eating, she asked him to explain the show to her.

"Well," He said, handing Marley back her phone into which he had just put his number, "In a nutshell Benedick and Beatrice are always arguing and bickering in good fun, but then Claudio and Hero -that's us- trick them into realizing that they are in love with each other."

"So what else happens with Hero?" Marley asked, in the near silent voice Jim had never seemed to have trouble hearing.

"Well, she's the daughter of the wealthy Leonato, and she doesn't have that many lines I guess, when you look at the other three of the four leads."

"Oh...okay, umm, anything else?" She was starting to get nervous, she didn't know this was a lead role.

"Umm, she gets married to Claudio, which is me, but not before I get tricked into thinking you cheated on me and I call you a whore on the day of our wedding, then you faint and some other people pretend you died in an attempt to clear your name. It works, I find out it was a trick, then when you're shown to not be dead we get married fo real."

Marley was getting nervous now; She was fine sitting next to Jim and reading, but she'd never been able to handle people very well, especially boys. Even if Jim didn't scare her, marriage, and lines, and infidelity made Marley very uncomfortable. Especially one particular thought...

"Do we have to...kiss?"

Jim looked up to answer, but stopped when he saw Marley's face. He could see she was getting increasingly nervous.

"You're not okay. Come on, you should get home." Jim stood and held out his hand to help Marley up. She was shaking. Jim put his arms around Marley's shoulders to help steady her.

"Which dorm do you live in?" He asked.

"Beddow Hall," She replied, more quietly than Jim had ever heard her.

"Huh," Jim said, surprised, "That's my hall." He supposed that it wasn't all too strange that he'd never seen her around before; she didn't seem like the know-your-neighbors type.

Jim helped Marley back to the dorm building as she grew weaker and weaker from thinking about the situation. When they got to the building Jim asked where her room was, but she couldn't speak. He found their RA and asked for the room number and a spare key. The RA wouldn't normally have given it to him, but she could easily see that Marley needed help at that moment, so she handed it over. Jim found the room without much difficulty; not only did they live in the same building, but her room was just around the corner from his. He helped her inside and sat her down on one of the two beds. As he stood looking around, the other side of the room was untouched.

"Do you have a roommate?" He asked.

Marley shook her head and looked up at him, embarrassed, then looked down at her lap and started to get very nervous.

Jim sat down next to her and put his arms around her. He had grown fond of his new friend, and he didn't like to see her so strung up.

"What's got you so nervous, Marley?" He asked her. "Is it the amount of lines or the character? Or both?"

Marley hesitated a moment, then spoke quietly. "I looked for monologues yesterday, and there were a lot for Beatrice, and some mentions of a few others, but there was only one I found for the character Hero. That's why I chose her, I thought it was small. I don't want people to look at me. I don't know if I could handle being yelled at or married, even if it's fake. I never wanted this, I just want to be invisible."

Marley brought her hands to her face as she started to cry. She didn't make any noise or fuss about it, but the silence made it all the more awful to watch. Jim pulled Marley into a hug in an attempt to comfort her. He didn't understand it: this girl was so terrified of people that she kept hidden away in a dorm by herself, she ran out of a room when people looked at her, and she was having a terrible breakdown at the thought of people's focus being on her, yet she seemed perfectly fine to interact with him.

"What did you do at your audition?" He asked her after a moment.

Marley pulled herself from Jim's strong arms and gave him a confused look.

Jim took a moment to study her tear stained face before continuing. "At the audition there were other people, strangers, and you were fine. What did you do for that."

Marley looked down and took a moment before answering. "I'm not scared of you," she said, "I don't know why, but I'm not. You were there at the audition, and I saw your reflection in the window behind Zach and the professor. I just looked at you instead of them."

Jim was quiet for a minute, taking in what his new friend had just told him. After a moment he reached out and lifted her chin so she would look him in the eyes.

"If I'm what it takes for you to feel okay reading out your lines, then I promise you I will be there everyday you have to be. Don't ever worry about the others, just focus on me, like in your audition. We're sort of a thing in the show anyway."

Marley smiled a little in spite of herself when Jim said this to her. As he wiped tears from her face, Marley noticed how gentle he was despite his size and stature.

"I haven't known you long," He said, "But you're my friend. I don't want to see you like this. If there's ever a way I can help you, promise you'll tell me." At this Marley just smiled. "Promise me," Jim said again, looking serious about it. Marley hugged him, hiding her face in his chest.

"I promise," she said.


	4. Episode 4

Two days after the cast list was posted, there was a read through in one of the campuses theatres. Most of the cast was there already, all except for Jim. Jim was going to be a little late because of a class he had on thursdays that ended right when rehearsal started. That still left Marley alone for longer than she would like.

She couldn't show up late, it would draw the eyes of everyone else who would be there on time. She couldn't go early, because then she would be greeted by the entire cast one by one.

That left one option: arrive on time and try to avoid being noticed until Jim got there.

Marley had been there for a few minutes now; she was lucky enough to arrive at the same time as a large group, and so was able to sneak in at the back of the crowd. After that, she sat in one of the chairs that had been set up in a circle for the read through. She had been able to go for quite a while without anyone really noticing her, but then Evan came.

Evan was loud and arrogant, and he liked to think he was a well liked ladies-man. He walked in loudly and noticed Marley sitting alone, not talking to anyone. He recognized her, and that could only be bad for Marley.

"Hey," he said loudly, "You're that girl, that one who 'had to' audition." People nearby had started to turn and look at the commotion. Marley froze, wide eyed and terrified. "So," Evan continued, "what's up with that, huh? Why're you so special?"

"Oh, come on Evan, leave her alone." One girl spoke up against him, it was the same girl that did on the day of the meeting.

"Oh come on, Allison, don't pretend you're not curious too."

"Curiosity doesn't give you the right to scrutinize the poor thing."

"Oh, bite me," Evan said.

The girl rolled her eyes as Evan turned away from, and closed in on Marley. He pulled over a chair and sat backwards facing Marley.

"So how's about it, dollface? I want the story. You're, what, a freshman? No one here's ever heard you say a word, and you're clearly not interested in being here, so why do you _have_ to audition? And more importantly, how'd you get a lead?"

Marley put her head in her hands hoping Evan would just go away. He did not.

"Hey!" he said, pushing her hands away, "I'm talking to you!"

Marley looked about to cry.

"Evan, knock it off!" Allison said, coming over to the commotion. Evan simply blocked her out.

"Why can't you talk, you freak?" By this point, everyone had begun to watch in silent discomfort.

"Hey." A deep voice rang out, making everyone turn towards the door. Jim had arrived, and he was not happy.

"Oh great," Evan said, now it's a whole freak show." He stood up and turned to face Jim at the door, but when he turned around he saw that Jim was no longer at the door. Jim was right behind him, staring down stone faced. Evan tried to pretend that Jim wasn't incredibly menacing at that particular moment in time.

"Leave the lady alone," Jim said, is usually mellow voice now gravelly and orotund.

"Listen, Povolo," Evan said, trying to sound tuff, "I can see that you've got some sort of weird, freak crush on little miss cat-got-her-tongue, but there's no reason to- hey!"

It was at that point when Jim got sick of hearing Evan's voice. Jim lifted Evan up easily, and moved him away from Marley before taking the chair Evan had moved and sitting down next to Marley. Allison quickly moved to the seat on Marley's other side.

"All right thank you Jim, let's all settle down now," Zack said, coming to the center of the circle of chairs with a box of scripts. He was followed by the professor and they began distributing the scripts.

Jim looked over at Marley to see if she was okay. She was looking at the ground and shaking. Jim moved his chair a little closer and put his arm around her. She looked up at him and tried to smile, but he understood when she couldn't. Marley stopped shaking, but she was still afraid to read. Everyone's eyes would be on her more than once. She thought about this, and what Jim had said a few nights ago, while the read through began. When it came time for Marley's first line, she froze. Jim gave her shoulders a squeeze, causing her to look up at him. Marley hesitated for another moment, then stood up and turned her chair to face Jim. She sat back down and read her line out clearly. The rest of the cast was more than a little surprised to hear her.

Jim smiled and put his hand on hers, giving it a squeeze before turning his chair slightly to face her a little more. This is how they went through the read through, and how Marley came to think that maybe she could get through this whole theater thing.

Seeing Evan glare at her as she was leaving with Jim is what reminded her of how it could go terribly wrong.


	5. Episode 5

Marley and Jim sat quietly in their usual corner of the library. Marley was reading through her script while Jim wrestled with a poem he had been working on. After a moment, Jim stopped and stared off into the distance. Marley didn't notice the change until Jim spoke, making her jump just a little.

"Can I ask you a personal question?" He said, "You don't have to answer it if it makes you uncomfortable, but I've been wondering for a while now."

"Umm, I suppose..." Marley said, nervous for where this might go.

"Are you afraid of people, or the way they might think of you or treat you? Because you seem like you're afraid of the people themselves, but then you spend your time with a guy like me."

"What do you mean a 'guy like you'?" She got a little louder than usual. Marley didn't like when Jim was mean to himself.

"I mean, big and tall, looming, deep voiced and always sort of watching people, not often actually talking to them."

"You're not that scary." Marley turned back to her script.

"Before I even knew your name I chased you down a hallway and carried you away."

"Well you sort of had to."

Jim thought a moment. "I suppose," he said finally. "Care to run lines?" Jim figured by now that Marley probably didn't want to answer the question.

They went through a bunch of scenes, some with each other, some without, and when it began getting late they began to leave. It was dark out, and cold. The pair walked just a little bit closer than usual because Marley was trying to keep warm. Jim saw her shivering, he always noticed things like that. He put his arm around his friend and pulled her into his side. Marley leaned into him because Jim was always very warm. They walked like that in silence for a while. It was Marley who broke the silence.

"Attention." She said, more quietly than usual.

"What?" Jim asked, a moment before remembering the question he had asked earlier.

"I'm not afraid of it, but I don't like it. Any of it. I feel like a fish in a tank and a bird in a cage, and I don't want people to judge me. I don't want them to call me a...a freak."

Jim stayed quiet for a moment, thinking about what she had said.

"Do you worry at all about people like Evan who call you a freak because you stay so quiet?"

"Yes," She said, even quieter now. Jim had to focus hard to hear her, something he hadn't had to do before. "That's why I want to be invisible." Marley looked down and looked somber. Jim let her be quiet. He knew she probably didn't want to talk any more about something like this. He actually felt kind of bad for asking about it.

The pair of them walked in silence until they reached Marley's door. Jim pulled her into a tight hug. Marley hugged him back, enjoying the warmth of his body and the security she felt wrapped in his arms.

"I'm glad you're not invisible," Jim said quietly.

As Marley lay in her bed trying to fall asleep, her mind kept wandering to when she first met Jim; he was so strong, he easily overcame Marley's hundred pounds, but he was gentle. He promised not to drop her is his deep, slow voice, but she never thought for a minute that he would. There was something different about Jim that Marley felt right away. He looked at her, and saw her scared and trying to escape a simple room of people who hadn't said anything other than "You must be Marley," and he didn't think she was dumb, or stupid, or a freak. He didn't even say anything to her or look her up and down. He knew she wouldn't come peacefully without even talking to her. Marley hated being touched, but Jim took her into his arms and carried her off and she let him. Jim just felt...right. Marley hadn't realized she had drifted into a dream until she woke up the next morning.

When Jim returned to his room after walking Marley home the first thing he saw was his roommate Charlie sitting across the room on his bed with his laptop open and several empty paper coffee cups on his nightstand.

"Hi Charlie," Jim said, putting his keys and notebook on his desk in the corner closest to the door.

"Hey Jim, How was the library?" Charlie said, not looking up from his computer.

"Fine. Still working on that paper?"

"Yeah. Still 'friends' with that girl?" Charlie said, using air quotes around 'friends'

Jim was a little confused. "You mean Marley?"

"Is that her name? That's cute. But yeah, the quiet one you're always with."

"I'm not _always _with her," Jim said, becoming defensive.

"I happen to disagree, but whatever floats your boat dude."

"And what if I spend time with her? She has anxiety, I help her feel better. She's my friend, I want her to be happy," Jim was starting to upset with Charlie.

"Whoa, calm down man,"Charlie said, not wanting things to get loud, "That's fine, that's totally fine. You can be just friends with a girl. I think it's great that you're so good to her, and if you say you two are just friends then I believe you. I'm just saying that sometimes it seems like it might be more. That's all."

Jim too a deep breath and took a moment to calm down before getting ready for bed. Charlie did the same, and after a few minutes of the two of them laying in the quiet darkness Charlie spoke again.

"He Jim?" Charlie asked.

"Yeah?"

"Do you want it to be something more?"


End file.
